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[Euld]

How about a beanstalk bean that you grow outside, and it grows an organic, but climbable up/down stair up to a certain randomish level.  Castles could only appear in clouds, and you would know if there was something suspicious up there by zooming out your z-levels way past the highest ground point and you'd actually see a cloud.  Grow a beanstalk to the cloud, or build your way up there, and if it's one of those "hidden fun stuff" clouds, it becomes revealed.

Then you probably get invaded by giants who climb down the beanstalk.  That's when you order your woodcutter to chop it down NOW.  Then you watch the base level of your beanstalk as it rains giants for a minute or two 

[Halmie]

Ok do the celestial beings come down and own your fortress for "defiling" their sacred area?

If not... Meh.

Also it needs motivation. Maybe you can nick sacred stuf that you can sell for ridicuous amounts. But when they get angry they cause a calamity relating to their sphere. Maybe a volcano god would create an eruption in your backyard leaving a big hole. That sort of thing.

[silhouette]

-Maybe a volcano god would create an eruption in your backyard leaving a big hole. That sort of thing.

BUT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD THING.

[Halmie]

I meant the volcano would kill almost all of your dorfs unless you are well prepared. Which would be unlikely since you wouldn't know what they would do.

[silhouette]

I meant the volcano would kill almost all of your dorfs unless you are well prepared. Which would be unlikely since you wouldn't know what they would do.

But if your on a place with no magma pipe then it deffinitly WOULD be a good thing.
So what if you lose heaps of dwarves, you still get a free magma pipe!

[Halmie]

It wouldn't turn into a magma pipe becuase it would dry out. Anyway couldn't you just embark on a place with a magma pipe anyway?

[silhouette]

It wouldn't turn into a magma pipe becuase it would dry out. Anyway couldn't you just embark on a place with a magma pipe anyway?

yes but it may not match the other things your looking for.

[Farce]

I've been thinking of "wants to explore sky" as a fantasy character motivation recently.

Also, this post is also kind of fragmented.  Also I really like the word also.

And having cool stuff in the sky would indeed be pretty cool, but I don't like the idea of being able to mundanely reach into the heavens with any old fort.  I'd prefer the groundling creatures to stay groundlings - keeps the sky as a mystical wondrous blue expanse stretching into forever and such.  I would keep sky-exploration as something requiring high-level magic, or cooperation from a powerful megabeast or something.  Entirely mundane ways, like Dwarven airplanes or a GIANT Spire, would be fun, too, though, and features like a Yggdrasil-kinda tree or the beanstalks would also be rad.

Also, I don't really like the idea of having celestials require a platform or stuff like that - I want it to feel like the sky, not a bunch of stuff taken from back on the ground, except somehow in the sky.  ...Though, I would not be opposed to floating mountains, castles, etc.  Someone already mentioned floating rock and metals, and that's cool too - floating rocks could be the foundation for the construction of a flying castle.  It'd be nice for it to be sort of HFS-level, too.  The only thing about having random chunks of crap flying around the sky is that... well, the sky is empty, and I don't know if I want the sky to suddenly be FLYING ROCKS EVERYWHERE.  Even if they're so high up or somehow camouflaged so no one ever noticed them, it'd still be really weird.

IMO there should be two flavors of skystuff:  Stuff for groundbound guys, and stuff for aerial/flying/floating/whatever critters.  Floating mountains, the homes of Sky Giants (like D&D or Warhammer Fantasy, I guess?) for the former, and maybe homes with flying tunnels instead of floors and stairs, carved out of a floating rock cluster or something for flying creatures.

The sky IS kind of a hostile environment, what with the whole it-doesn't-prevent-falling thing, so it being empty like an ocean would be appropriate, anyway.  Maybe occasionally some kind of sky-only thing would fly by (digression:  I remember reading about some kind of bird that never stops flying - even the eggs just hatch in mid-air, with the chick flying as soon as it's born in some D&D Monster Manual or something), or maybe it's solely a place for flying creatures and wizards.


I can't think anymore.  Here, have this giant post.

[atomfullerene]

Beanstalks are a way to get to the sky, yes.  But so is Ygdrassil, the world tree.   Which I'd kind of like to see in the game, stretching up and up hundreds of z-levels, and encompassing several embark areas.  That way I could run a dwarven termite fort and REALLY make the elves angry.  Heh heh.   

[alfie275]

Perhaps celestials would be in the form of what they are represented as, with the associated spheres
Ie Groundhog with death sphere would be skeletal groundhog.
Maybe if the god visits the ground it has effects based on spheres, ie life sphere causes healing aura, volcanoe sphere might cause volcanoe where they hit the ground.

[Darkond2100]

How about a beanstalk bean that you grow outside, and it grows an organic, but climbable up/down stair up to a certain randomish level.  Castles could only appear in clouds, and you would know if there was something suspicious up there by zooming out your z-levels way past the highest ground point and you'd actually see a cloud.  Grow a beanstalk to the cloud, or build your way up there, and if it's one of those "hidden fun stuff" clouds, it becomes revealed.

Then you probably get invaded by giants who climb down the beanstalk.  That's when you order your woodcutter to chop it down NOW.  Then you watch the base level of your beanstalk as it rains giants for a minute or two 

There's a good idea. GROW the beanstalk yourself, with some very expensive beans that you have to buy from the elven caravan (of course). The beanstalk must have an empty tile over it, so that you can grow them instead of stairs. Then your dwarves get happy thoughts from growing a beanstalk maintained by your skilled farmers.

Fort in a giant living tree? Sweet!

Birds that hardly ever land (sleeping in the air) are the albatross and the swift. Those are the ones that I know of.

Mountains flying over the sea! That'll make it tough for sea monsters to get to your dwarves.

Forget about my last idea, the beanstalk should NOT support the sky-borne land-mass. Floating lands need to levitate on their own magical power. Beanstalk should also be good for finding underground river and pools, as that would be where they naturally grow over. An expert woodcutter will cut down through the beanstalk roots like a miner till he reaches your new source of water.

[silhouette]

There's a good idea. GROW the beanstalk yourself, with some very expensive beans that you have to buy from the elven caravan (of course). The beanstalk must have an empty tile over it, so that you can grow them instead of stairs. Then your dwarves get happy thoughts from growing a beanstalk maintained by your skilled farmers.

Fort in a giant living tree? Sweet!

*gasp*
Ye are not a dwarf!
Ye are an elf!
Get him!

But serriously.

I definitly like the idea of being able to pick and chooze the axis's
Like for one map you may want it to be only 2 tiles across in world map and 5 tiles down in worl map, then have it five tiles up from the ground on world map and 0 tiles underground, if you get what i mean.
Just being able to add the ability to choose which z-levels you have and to the extent that they go would be freaking great.

Forget about my last idea, the beanstalk should NOT support the sky-borne land-mass. Floating lands need to levitate on their own magical power. Beanstalk should also be good for finding underground river and pools, as that would be where they naturally grow over. An expert woodcutter will cut down through the beanstalk roots like a miner till he reaches your new source of water.

Yeah they should float or levitate on their own or by sky pillars.
Beanstalks could be classed as a somewhat limited aquifier, or just have filled in the middle of it...

e.g
   =
 ===
==7==
 ===
   =

= is beanstalk wall
7 is water tile
and constantly having it upwards.
Could be like a water pipe, xpt in beanstalk form

[Darkond2100]

Forget about my last idea, the beanstalk should NOT support the sky-borne land-mass. Floating lands need to levitate on their own magical power. Beanstalk should also be good for finding underground river and pools, as that would be where they naturally grow over. An expert woodcutter will cut down through the beanstalk roots like a miner till he reaches your new source of water.

Yeah they should float or levitate on their own or by sky pillars.
Beanstalks could be classed as a somewhat limited aquifier, or just have filled in the middle of it...

e.g
   =
 ===
==7==
 ===
   =

= is beanstalk wall
7 is water tile
and constantly having it upwards.
Could be like a water pipe, except in beanstalk form

A water source higher than your fort would make aqueducts a necessity in every fortress. Waterfalls would be far easier to make. Wells all over the place for your sick and injured (sicknees is supposed to come out in the newest update, I think). Drown intruders (from the heavens, perhaps?) going down your sacred halls. So many possibilties! So many possible ACCIDENTS !

[LegoLord]

Although since having one right there from the beginning would be easy access to the sky, maybe it shouldn't be common.

And the liquid should probably be greenish, and ooze rather than flow.

[Darkond2100]

oozing liquid? Eww, no! I mean WATER, flowing like a humble brook through a cliff.